You're the best brother (Comfy-vember day 11)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
When Peter arrived at the lake house that friday evening, the first thing he saw was Morgan, his 15-year-old little sister, sitting on the sofa, looking downcast and sulky.
"Hi Morgan, how are you?" He asked, setting his backpack on the floor beside the door.
All he received was a vague grunt, which surprised him greatly. Morgan wasn't by nature a sulky person, and to see her sulking like that was rather strange. Trying to find out a little more before going straight in, Peter crossed the room and headed for the kitchen, where he'd heard some noise.
And indeed, Pepper was there.
"Hi Pepper." He said as he entered.
"Ah hello Peter. How was your week? Did you have any problems on the road? If you'd told me you'd finished earlier, I'd have asked Happy to pick you up." Pepper asked as she came to hug the young brunet.
"So in order. My week went really well and a new school joined our program so MJ is so happy. I didn't have any problems on the road. And Happy has enough work as it is. You didn't buy me a car to keep it in the garage." Peter replied, returning the embrace of the woman he considered an adoptive mother.
A lot had changed in the last 10 years, after the war against Thanos and Tony's death. Unfortunately for Peter, his Aunt May had died less than a year later of cancer, and Peter had found himself completely lost and almost homeless. Pepper intervened at this point, taking in the child her husband already considered a son. And after a rather strange period of adjustment, Peter settled perfectly into their family life. He helped Pepper as much as he could around the house, and was absolutely wonderful with Morgan, the two of them regarding each other as brother and sister.
After finishing high school, Peter went off to MIT, with Pepper helping to pay for his student apartment and all his expenses on condition that he return to the lake house every weekend.
And now, more than 5 years after graduation, this ritual was still in place and with few exceptions, Peter spent every weekend at the lake house, MJ sometimes accompanying him.
Pepper smiled at him and placed a small kiss on his forehead before returning to what she was doing before he arrived, namely the evening meal.
"Do you know what’s up with Morgan?" Peter asked, coming over to help the blonde.
"No." Pepper sighed. "She's been looking like that ever since Happy picked her up from high school. He hasn't been able to get anything out of her and neither have I. She just tells me she's fine and that she's just tired."
Peter hummed, not convinced. "I'll try to go talk to her."
Peter nodded and left the kitchen, making his way to the living room and coming to sit on the sofa, at first saying nothing, simply taking out his phone and answering MJ's message asking if he'd had a good journey. When he'd answered, he glanced at Morgan and saw that she still wasn't ready to talk, so he set about answering a few emails. There was always work to be done, after all.
And then, after almost 15 minutes of silence... "How do you do it?"
Peter turned his attention back to his sister. "How do I do what?"
"How do you manage the pressure of being Tony Stark's son? How did you manage to do your studies where he did his, carrying his name while being you?"
Yes, because Peter was also a Stark, officially speaking. Because during his 5-year absence, Tony had officially adopted him, the procedure being completed automatically on his return from dust.
It was a complicated question to answer and Peter was beginning to understand what was bothering his sister. It was complicated, but he was going to be able to help his sister, since he'd been there too.
"It's complicated." He finally admits. "Dad was an incredible person, very well known and very famous, and everyone has heard of Tony Stark, good or bad. To live with the Stark name is to carry that legacy, and it's not easy. Personally, what has helped me a great deal to make my way despite this name, while remaining myself, is the support of those closest to me. Whether it's Ned and MJ, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey and many others, they've always seen me as Peter, and not as Tony's son."
"But that's the problem. Nobody sees me as Morgan. Everyone sees me as the Stark girl. And everywhere I go, people expect to see a younger, female version of Dad. They stop at 'Stark' and look no further."
"It's unfortunately a reality and we won't be able to change these people's views. But eventually you'll find other people who will think of you as Morgan, and not as the Stark girl. It's not easy, living with this heritage, but you're not alone Morguna. I'm here to help you, your mother's here too, and so is Happy. And if there are people bothering you because of it, we can always ask Uncle Bucky to take care of them." Peter added with a smirk.
The last sentence made Morgan smile a little and she moved closer to Peter, coming to snuggle against him, Peter welcoming her against him in a couch cuddle.
"You really are the best big brother." She said as she lifted her head, looking at Peter with a smile.
"That's because I have the best little sister." Peter replied, nose kissing her.
Morgan chuckled and rested her head against Peter's shoulder, who wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders.
Morgan was strong, and with time and support, she'd get better at handling the Stark name. But in the meantime, if she needed verbal affirmations every now and then, he didn't mind. After all, he was the best big brother, he could do that for his little sister.
